Missouri escaped Saturday night with a win, but Eli Drinkwitz didn’t spend much time pretending it was pretty.
The No. 22/20 Tigers beat Troy 27-17 at Memorial Stadium on Sept. 19, yet the performance looked far closer to a trap than a tune-up. Missouri was favored by 27.5 points and still had to grind through a messy, mistake-filled night before finally pulling away thanks to a 24-0 second-quarter burst.
Drinkwitz said the whole thing reminded him of another uncomfortable September win from 2023, when Missouri survived Middle Tennessee State before the season took off.
“It was a really difficult football game,” Drinkwitz recalled Saturday, following a game against an overmatched opponent that felt strikingly similar. “We were fortunate enough to get out of there with a win.”
That earlier scare did not derail the Tigers. It turned into a springboard for one of the best seasons in recent MU history. This time, though, Drinkwitz made clear Missouri can’t count on history repeating itself unless a lot gets cleaned up quickly.
Mizzou is 3-0, but the Tigers head to Mississippi State with plenty to fix before SEC play really starts to bite.
The offense, which had looked electric in the first two weeks, never found a rhythm against Troy. Missouri finished 2-of-11 on third down, and quarterback Austin Simmons was held to 10 completions on 19 attempts for 91 yards and a touchdown.
After hitting his first five passes, he only strung together back-to-back completions two more times the rest of the night. From the start of the second quarter through the handshake line, Simmons went 5-of-14 for 28 yards.
Missouri’s offensive success rate sat at 26%, while the rushing attack was more stable at 48%.
Drinkwitz did not soften his assessment.
“We couldn't find the completions that we needed to, and then there was just - we weren't great. We weren't great throwing and catching the football,” Drinkwitz said. “There was receivers falling down, receivers running routes too deep, quarterback throwing the ball too early, offensive holding, getting behind the sticks, inefficient runs on first down, inability to utilize play action to create separation in the second level of the defense.
“So, a lot of things to fix.”
The defense had better moments, but the back end gave Troy too much room early. The Trojans struck for a 76-yard touchdown on the second play of the game, when TK Keyes broke free after Santana Banner lost leverage and Trajen Greco took a poor angle in coverage.
Then, after Missouri’s 24-point run had started to bury the game, Troy answered with another explosive play. Goose Crowder threw deep down the right sideline, Howard Kinchen ran under it, and Greco again ended up out of position.
Drinkwitz didn’t hide from those breakdowns either.
“The first one, they were in a stack formation. We had man-to-man coverage, we played outside leverage.
They threw basically routes on air,” Drinkwitz said. "Our free safety had a terrible angle.
It's supposed to be there to tackle it or get it down and didn't. And I mean, it's awful.
Bottom line, it's awful defense.
“And then, at the end of the half, they threw vertical, and again we had no free safety help, and we weren't able to get our eyes around, and we didn't play through the hands to get the ball down. So, not good.”
Missouri did force turnovers on consecutive plays for the second straight week. Sione Laulea intercepted a pass, and Jason Dowell recovered a fumble forced by Langden Kitchen, with both turnovers leading to MU touchdowns. The Tigers also held Troy scoreless after halftime.
Even so, the game was cluttered with mistakes. Missouri was penalized nine times for 90 yards, and seven of its 11 drives ended in punts. Drinkwitz also pointed to special teams, saying the group responded after being emphasized all week, and noted Blake Craig made two field goals that helped the Tigers gain confidence in protection.
Still, the coach’s closing tone matched the rest of the night: relief without satisfaction.
“It's better than the alternative. They can't take this off the record, so I feel good about that,” Drinkwitz said.
“It's just - there's a lot of work to be done, and I don't want anybody to think we're sitting here satisfied in the locker room, jumping up and down. I mean, they're disappointed.
We're all disappointed. We know that we can play better.”
Drinkwitz did point to a few positives, including Missouri’s response during the 24-0 run and the fact that the defense shut Troy out after halftime.
“There are a lot of positives in the game. Bottom line, we won the game, which is number one.
Number two, there was a lot of fight within our team. We went on a 24-0 run when things weren't great, so those things are positive, absolutely,” Drinkwitz said.
“Special teams was really not where we needed it to be. We emphasized it all week, and those guys responded in a positive way.
That was positive. The defense didn't allow a score in the second half.
That was positive. … Blake Craig made two field goals, which we really needed to see to make sure that we have confidence for protection.
So that was really good.
“But there’s a lot of work to be done.”
And now the schedule tightens. Mississippi State awaits, and with both teams unbeaten, the road game under the lights suddenly carries real weight.
Missouri got away with a rough one against Troy. The next one looks much less forgiving.
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